


fleurs captives

by thisaccountisdone



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Character Death, Coma, Love at First Sight, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-21 04:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1537157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisaccountisdone/pseuds/thisaccountisdone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason is a medical student doing his rounds when he "meets" Nico di Angelo. He falls in love at first sight... The only problem is Nico is a coma patient.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fleurs captives

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from the song "fleurs captives" by nicole dollanganger.
> 
> fic contains mentions of self harm which i can't seem to find the tag for?? i'm so fucking sorry about this fic.

Jason will remember this day for the rest of his life; the day he met Nico di Angelo.  
  
Technically, they didn’t even meet. Nico was in a deep coma. He had taken a bullet to the brain and the doctors said they saved him. Being hooked up to machines… Was it really living? His brain was basically dead by now and his family only held on because of the hope he’d wake up.  
  
Things that stuck in Jason’s brain when he slept at night: greenish white skin pale as a ghost, scars mapping his pain, silky black hair that nearly covered his eyes, long eyelashes that slowly collected dust, the rise and fall of his empty breaths.  
  
His sisters were there every day. Bianca with her high cheekbones and freckles that peppered her olive skin. She smiled brokenly when she spoke and her eyes were always as far away as her brother. Hazel- their half sister- with curly blonde hair that contrasted against her dark skin. Her eyes looked like gold but they had lost their shine.  
  
Jason had never really believed in love at first sight. He’d never believed that before the boy. It was a sick kind of irony that he’d fall for someone in a coma. He wasn’t very spiritual; didn’t believe everything happens for a reason. What reason is there to love someone who’s already dead?  
  
He was there every day. No one cared anymore or asked; it was in his eyes. Some days, other people were there. Percy with his eyes the colour of sea brine and his hopeful half smile. He was Jason’s type but Jason couldn’t find anything beautiful about his clenched fists; a stark reminder that things weren’t as hopeful as the quirk of his lips made it seem.  
  
There was Annabeth with steel grey eyes and long blonde hair that hit her hips when she walked. She would grip Hazel and Bianca’s hands and sit there in a sickly silence that mirrored Nico’s lack of movement. Jason wasn’t sure he’d ever heard her speak outside of a whisper. She was Percy’s girlfriend but Percy’s eyes always lingered on Nico’s lips as she rubbed circles on the back of Bianca’s hand.  
  
Frank had sharply cut black hair and lips drawn in a thin line. His eyes were the colour of obsidian and reflected the mood of the room. He would sit there with his arms around Hazel’s shoulders, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. What could you say to someone watching their life fade away in front of them?  
  
From Jason’s understanding, Bianca and Hazel didn’t have mothers. Bianca was the one who had found Nico, gun still in his hand and a serene smile on his face. She was the only one home when the gunshot rang out; she was the one to call their father. Hades was an imposing man. His skin was deathly pale as if it had never seen the sun. His eyes were darker than night and showed no emotion. His fingers were long and bony as he inspected the scars on Nico’s wrists. He had never seen them before but his lips pursed as he looked at them.   
  
Though his eyes were emotionless, it was obvious he cared for his children. He wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders and drew them close. None of them spoke; just sat there huddled together, waiting for something to change.  
  
He smiled when he heard Jason was there everyday, told him he was glad his son had such good friends. Jason’s heart dropped when he heard that but no one had the heart to correct him. Jason just nodded with a sad smile and let Hades think what he wanted.   
  
Jason never met their stepmother. She was a socialite who had married for the money, according to Bianca. Hazel was too kind to speak ill of anyone but her eyes glimmered with the slightest bit of hatred every time Persephone was mentioned. Who was more concerned with the state of their rug than their own child’s life?   
  
Their lives were each other. Bianca and Hazel were Nico’s lifeline until one day, it wasn’t enough. It must have hurt… Knowing that you’re not enough for the person you love most.   
  
Jason knew what it was like, though; had been in a hospital bed watching his sister’s dull eyes trying to compartmentalize. He’d been the one with slashes on his wrist, trying his best to make it through each day. He’d been the one with an absent father and a mother who just didn’t care.   
  
He told them it wasn’t their fault but he knew that didn’t mean a single thing. Words were just words and sometimes, they meant nothing. No matter what, he couldn’t express to them the pain that made Nico take his own life. He could only leave his wrists exposed and hope they understood that every faded white mark was something he had in common.  
  
Nico died almost a month after Jason’s first visit. Jason felt empty. The more he had gotten to know his family, the more he got to know Nico. He fell more and more in love with each word. The day of the funeral, it rained. It was like even Heaven was mourning Nico’s death. Jason wanted to break down in laughter because goddamn, the irony was too much. He knew from the beginning, though, that Nico would die eventually. He just didn’t realize it would hurt so much.   
  
Things that haunt Jason’s dreams from the funeral: Bianca’s face drawn into a grim line as Hazel sobs into her chest, Hades spilling a single tear as Bianca and Hazel lean into him, Annabeth’s grey eyes following Bianca’s every movement, Frank kissing the top of Hazel’s head and telling her it’s okay, even though it’s not.   
  
Nico’s ghost lingers inside everyone even as he’s laid to rest six feet below. Tears spill onto the earth, mirroring the rain falling from the sky. Jason feels like he’s the one resting in the ground instead.


End file.
